By Declan Schuster
The HK$5.35 million G2 Sha Tin Trophy Handicap (1600m) tends to signal the return of Hong Kong’s big horses, especially in recent times, and Sunday’s (13 October) renewal at Sha Tin is no exception as those preparing for December’s HK$126 million LONGINES Hong Kong International Races start to roll out.
Group 1 winners Voyage Bubble and Beauty Eternal resurface, as do Beauty Joy, Galaxy Patch, Red Lion, Straight Arron, Happy Together and La City Blanche.
By Leo Schlink
Romantic Warrior accelerated preparations for the HK$5.35 million G2 BOCHK Jockey Club Cup (2000m) at Sha Tin on 17 November and the HK$40 million G1 LONGINES Hong Kong Cup (2000m) on 8 December with a strong trial win at Happy Valley this morning (Saturday, 5 October).
No horse impressed Sunday at Longchamp more than Ramatuelle, a slight 3-year-old filly with a serious turn of foot.
Even on very soft ground that should blunt a horse’s brilliance, Ramatuelle in the Group 1 Prix de la Foret was – brilliant.
Camille Pissarro and Vertical Blue were the unexpected winners of Group 1 races for juveniles on Sunday’s undercard of the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe at Longchamp Racecourse in Paris.
Both runners earned fees-paid berths to Breeders’ Cup races at Del Mar on Nov. 1, although it was not immediately clear whether they will be sent to California.
Camille Pissarro, who paid $26.80 in American pools, won the $441,400 Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere at seven furlongs for his second win in seven starts, and first since a maiden-race win in Ireland in April.
After a Group 3 win in July and a victory in a Group 2 in August, the 3-year-old filly Friendly Soul won her third consecutive start, and first Group 1, in Sunday’s Prix de l’Opera for fillies and mares at Longchamp Racecourse in Paris.
The win may lead to a start in the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf at Del Mar on Nov. 2, co-trainer John Gosden told the press on Sunday. Friendly Soul earned a fees-paid berth to the BC Filly and Mare Turf with Sunday’s win.
It is not like the England-based trainer Ralph Beckett has a horse for the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe every year. Beckett runs a fine, successful stable regularly populated with high-level performers, but we’re not talking about Ballydoyle here. And so it must have felt to Beckett like he’d missed a golden chance to win his first Arc when Westover ran into the brilliant Ace Impact finishing second a year ago.
The fast-improving 3-year-old Tamfana won her first Group 1 race in Saturday’s $360,700 Sun Chariot Stakes for fillies and mares at a mile at Newmarket Racecourse in Britain, finishing two lengths in front of Inspiral, the winner of the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf at Santa Anita last November.
Tamfana, ridden by Colin Keane for trainer David Menuisier, challenged pacesetter Darnation early, took the lead with a quarter-mile remaining and maintained her lead over Inspiral, who was last early after a slow start.
Fallen Angel proved to be a fighter when she finished a game second by a length in the Group 1 Matron Stakes at Leopardstown Racecourse in Ireland on Sept. 14.
In her first start since May, Fallen Angel set the pace and tried to keep up in the final strides with the four-time Group 1 winner Porta Fortuna.
